Bones of a King!

Measuring 40ft (12m) in length and weighing upwards of 14 tons, Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the largest and most powerful terrestrial predators in history. The most advanced in an 80 million year chain of tyrannosaurid evolution, T. rex had heavy, deep skulls reinforced with sutures, lightened by hollow chambers.

This specimen is a fragment of Tyrannosaurus rex bone, recovered on private land in South Dakota from the Hell Creek Formation. Sizes and shapes vary widely on this specimen but they are all about 0.50" to 0.75" (1.25cm-2cm) in length. The specimen is housed within a glass-topped riker display case. The case measures 4"x3"x1". A small information card is also included.

More About Tyrannosaurus rex

Above: How do you like your T. rex? With scales or fluffy like a baby chick? The science is still unsettled about adults as depicted here but juveniles definitely had feathers.

"We need to start thinking of dinosaurs as not just brutes and not just monsters, and not just things with sharp teeth and sharp claws, but as really active, intelligent, energetic animals that oftentimes had keen senses. An animal like T. rex was a predator that used brain and brawn: its big brain, its great sense of smell and its really keen sense of hearing were probably as important to it, if not more so, than its sharp claws and its sharp teeth and its big jaw muscles."

~ Steve Brusatte, Paleontologist, University of Edinburgh, author of "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World" (2018)

Various mechanical studies of T. rex power place the "Tyrant Lizard King" firmly at the top of the charts. Paired with this incredible power, T. rex also had some of the largest teeth of any carnivorous dinosaur, with the largest measuring 1ft (30 cm).

Despite popular depictions of poor depth perception, studies show that when compared to other giant theropods, tyrannosaurids had a wide postorbital skull which resulted in forward-facing eyes and acute binocular vision. The spine of a Tyrannosaurus Rex was subject to tremendous force. The size and strength of the vertebrae were essential to providing support for this enormous predator, but the entire apparatus also had to allow for rapid changes in movement and critical striking speed.